After Effects
by EnemyOfLove
Summary: Ezekiel Jones dealing (or more accurately not dealing) with the events in 2x08, and how the other members of the Library come to realize he's struggling. Spoilers for 2x08 and 3x02. Rated T to be safe *** UPDATE Chapter 2 now posted (Spoilers specific for 2x10)
1. Lessons

After Effects

Coda to Librarians 2x08 And the Point of Salvation

Stone was up late finishing his paper on the newly discovered van Gogh painting on display in Milan the first time he saw Ezekiel sipping tea reading a book on engineering. He was tucked in one of the upstairs reading nooks notebook balanced on his knee scrawling down notes. Stone waited until Ezekiel had dozed off before sneaking a peek at the notes – detailed drawings of every kind of cooling system with notes about shutoffs scrawled in the margins. Stone sighed as he looked down at the young thief whimpering in his sleep.

Eve woke up at 3:30 AM like every day. She changed into workout shorts and a t-shirt like every day. She pulled her hair up as she walked into the training room like every day. What was not like every day was Ezekiel Jones working on close combat moves against one of the dummies. She watched for a moment, worried and intrigued. She recognized the fighting style as her own. Eve had never taught him how to fight and this was more than he could have picked up just by watching… unless… Ezekiel was working himself into a frenzy as his forearms beat against the wood. "Stupid. Evil. Rage Monsters! Get away from them," he yelled. Sinking to the ground, crying. Eve stepped forward before pulling back. She had a feeling Ezekiel didn't want to have an audience.

Cassandra found him in the music room surrounded by yanked apart circuit boards, his head leaning on the piano bench. She paused, something about it seemed familiar, but the feeling passed and she continued on to the lab. She was just about to add a critical ingredient to her reaction flask when she heard a scream. Rushing to Ezekiel's side, she tried to wake him, but he just continued to thrash and scream. She reached for his hand cradling it to her chest, gently shushing him. Eventually he stopped thrashing but that only made it worse because he started to cry, "Don't leave me. Please don't leave me." Cassandra felt her heart break. Considering basic physics in her head she realized that she would not be able to get Ezekiel back to his room, so instead she eased herself down onto the floor, laying her head on his chest, stroking his cheek and whispering over and over that she was here and not going anywhere.

Jenkins had known from the beginning. As one who had survived wars and battles, and lost everyone he had loved before the LIT's, he knew that haunted look in Ezekiel's eyes as he stepped through the backdoor. He also knew a lie when he heard one, and every word out of Ezekiel's mouth when the others were trying to make him remember was a lie. Jenkins didn't push, but he watched after that. He watched Ezekiel Jones fade, forcing tea with a magical supplement down his throat as often as possible. If he could catch him before bedtime he would add an herb that kept nightmares at bay. Jenkins knew that he had gone through the loop hundreds if not thousands of times. The others only knew that he sacrificed himself for them. Jenkins soon realized that he had not only sacrificed himself once, but thousands of times.

Flynn heard the stories from all of them except Ezekiel. He couldn't believe what he was hearing – Ezekiel Jones sacrificed himself? Impossible Flynn thought. He assumed that Ezekiel had been banking on breaking the loop and coming out on the other side. He dismissed it all, until they were stuck in the collider base with werewolves. Flynn saw it in his eyes when he offered to draw off the pack. Ezekiel was not surprised when he said he could be wrong. There was no hesitation, no question of whether he was going. The pause was for him, Flynn realized. The pause was just long enough for Ezekiel to come up with a quip to ease Flynn's guilt. Ezekiel Jones willingly sacrificed himself. Again.


	2. Hope

Spoilers through 2x10

Ezekiel dealing with the loss of Fleve

Ezekiel actually heard his heart breaking as he looked at Flynn and Eve on the other side of the paradox portal.

"Steal something shiny. Leave it somewhere… interesting for me to find." It was the best he could come up with as he looked at the woman who he'd come to regard as a mother.

"Don't ever change, Jones."

"Why would I?"

 _Why would I?_ He thought. _I'm finally someone who makes you proud._

"I still don't like you," he quipped at Flynn. It felt natural. And it felt a lot less like goodbye.

The days following Flynn and Eve's permanent move to the past, Jones was abnormally upbeat. He planned seven heists, found twelve previously missing rooms in the library, and managed to upgrade the Library's magical alarm system so it could be integrated with the best technology he could buy… steal.

Stone noticed and was at a loss for how to help. Cassandra was easier – she wept in between bouts of research on time travel, paradoxes, and wormholes. Jake was able to console her as best he could with tea and hugs and fetching books from shelves too high for her. Ezekiel was not so easy. He obstinately refused anything was wrong.

Still, Jake found him at all hours of the night, always working. Ezekiel had a different notebook every few days, filled to the brim with his neat handwriting and copies of pages from the books tucked inside, but he could never get close enough to see what they were about.

Jenkins found his young charge crying one night sitting at the Colonel's desk, looking at a photo of the five of them from the museum in the brief moments while they were together.

"Mr. Jones?"

Ezekiel quickly wiped away the tears.

"Oh, Jenkins, I was just looking for a book on magical weaponry," he lied shoving the photo into his back pocket. "I thought I saw it on her desk last time."

"Ah, yes. I returned that to the shelves several days ago in the metal section. Would you care for a cup of tea?"

"I should go finish some research. Thank you, though."

Jenkins nodded stepping to the side as Ezekiel dodged around him. "If you're hungry later, I believe Mr. Stone left some extra cheese double pepperoni pizza in the fridge."

"Thanks, Jenkins."

He made it to the doorway before his resolve broke.

"Jenkins, Cassandra told me what you said about that prophecy about Excalibur… did you ever believe Arthur could come back?"

Jenkins knew what he was really asking.

"No, I did not." Ezekiel's face fell. Jenkins continued, "But I always had hope, and if there is one thing Colonel Baird taught me – hope is what makes the world go round."

"Right, hope. Good night, Jenkins."

"Good night, Mr. Jones."

"Hey, Jones, Cassandra, get down here. We're going to open that locked door in the basement."

Stone's bellow echoed through stacks. Ezekiel ignored him for a moment before frowning in confusion.

"How?" Cassandra shouted back. Ezekiel followed the sound of her heels on the stairs as she ran down from her lab.

"We found the key," Jake said smiling excitedly.

As they stood in front of the door talking about how long it would have taken for the message to show itself, Ezekiel felt a pinprick of hope. The simple brilliance of the plan was quintessential Flynn and Colonel Baird. When Flynn revealed the cunning plan Ezekiel was so happy, but he refused to let himself believe it.

For several weeks after Colonel Baird would catch Ezekiel smiling for no reason and lingering in her presence long after the others had gone to bed, with increasingly flimsy excuses.

"Okay, what is it? Did you hide a whoopee cushion somewhere and are waiting for me to sit on it?"

"I'm insulted you think I would be that unoriginal."

"Why do you keep smiling at me all the time then?"

"It's just good to have you home, Colonel. This place wasn't the same without you."

Eve was touched by his sincerity, noting his use of the word 'home', and offered one of her rare smiles and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It's good to be home."


	3. Crash

Author's note: Hi all! Thanks for continuing to read this story. I have plans to expand the story and tie it into most if not all of the season 3 episodes because I feel like his character development was very subtle but definitely there. Anyways, stay tuned for that. It may take me a bit but it will come eventually.

On a more timely note: This short piece is a brief explanation of why Ezekiel didn't even try to reach the other side at the end of 2x08 (spoilers for 2x08 naturally).

Disclaimers: I own absolutely nothing. **Bolded dialogue** is direct from the show.

Rating: T (to be safe)

Enjoy!

* * *

 **"I did it. I made it. And maybe I crashed the game?"**

Ezekiel's momentary celebration dulled as he came to a realization. But he shook his head firmly and opened the door to the hoard so he could get back to his friends.

Convincing them took longer than he hoped and he could see the game crashing around them. He had told them getting them to the save point was the mission. But he had lied.

Ezekiel knew that the game was crashing. Grabbing the thaumatite and getting them to the save point would rescue their memories, but it wouldn't get them out. The game needed one last fatal crash to break the superposition.

 **"No. Look around."** He tried to explain. " **It'll crash before it resets."** He hoped. " **But you guys won't. You guys have been saved."** He needed to believe that. **"I saved you."** He finally did it after ages of watching them die.

Ezekiel knew from the way Colonel Baird called his name, she didn't believe she could stop him. If it had been an order it would have been "Jones" not **"Ezekiel".**

" **Hey. It's all right.** " It really was. " **I'm Ezekiel Jones. Ezekiel Jones doesn't lose**." He wouldn't. " **Good game, mates."**

He didn't even aim for the other side. His goal had always been the rift. The last thing he heard were the shouts of his friends mingling with his own. But at least they were safe. It had taken thousands of lives but he had done it when it counted and that's what mattered.

One last fatality. That's what the game needed to crash. That's what they needed to get out. And he was happy to give it to them, his oldest friends in the world.

* * *

Author's note: I hope you liked it! Reviews are lovely! Thanks for reading :)


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